News Muse on Salaries

I read the article on "Brown announces ministerial pay freeze as MPs get 2.3% pay rise" on 30th March. It is inevitable that the public will grouse when everywhere around us, people are being retrenched or waiting to be retrenched. Then another article came out the next day on "The 10 highest paid politicians in the world". And it is based on basic salary in USD only...

1. Lee Hsien Loong - Singapore
Salary in dollars - $2.47 million
Salary in local currency - S$3.76 million

2. Donald Tsang Yum-Kuen - Hong Kong
Salary in dollars - $516,000
Salary in local currency - HK$4 million

3. Barack Obama - United States
Salary in dollars - $400,000

4. Brian Cowen - Ireland
Salary in dollars - $341,000
Salary in local currency - €257,000

5. Nicolas Sarkozy - France
Salary in dollars - $318,000
Salary in local currency - €240,000

6. Angela Merkel - Germany
Salary in dollars - $303,000
Salary in local currency - €228,000

7. Gordon Brown - UK
Salary in dollars - $279,000
Salary in local currency - £194,250

8. Stephen Harper - Canada
Salary in dollars - $246,000
Salary in local currency - C$311,000

9. Taro Aso - Japan
Salary in dollars - $243,000
Salary in local currency - Y24 million

10. Kevin Rudd - Australia
Salary in dollars - $229,000
Salary in local currency - A$330,000

The header of the article was "So, where does our own Gordon Brown stand?"... If that figures are true... I have to admit that this is a true example of why life is never fair. Those making the big decisions, where every words they say were nitpicked and everything they do is questioned by the world ... are just drawing a maximum of base salary USD400,000.

One should read the comments.. because they were really amusing.. from comments on MM and SM to why the preference of USD and not pounds to the reference of "the best job in the world" (oh and I heard the finalists are up already... I find that job recruitment and the job specifications really unique, as of now at least.. it's like they found the blue ocean haha).

Welcome to the real world (or was it the Matrix?)